System and method for monitoring and control of wireless modules linked to assets

ABSTRACT

A system and method for remote asset management is described which can provide the basis for a diverse product group including an improved remote location monitoring system, a means for communicating with and for monitoring the status and or location of a plurality of diverse assets, as well as the means for communicating with said assets for the purpose of modifying the operational status of one or more of said assets according to one or more stored data parameters such as location, use, battery power, and such like. The remote asset management system comprises a wireless module, which is associated with at least one of the plurality of asset and which is interfaced with the operating system of said assert and or with an electromechanical control means, which may control one or more features of the operation of said assets. A supporting network-based, or internet-based service platform, controls and manages the status of each of the plurality of assets, either automatically, or in response to received messages from fixed or wireless communication devices, and which is capable of selectively communicating data to said assets for changing the operational status of said assets according to pre-programmed conditions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a system and method for remote assetmanagement. More particularly, it relates to a system and method forremotely managing a plurality of assets, which may be fixed or movable,wherein each comprises a wireless module interfaced with the operatingsystem or control means of said asset and is capable of exchanging assetcontrol data with operational data stored remotely on a dedicated serverplatform. The said system and method for remote asset management canprovide an improved means for locating, monitoring, and controllingremotely the use of fixed and or movable assets as well as providing thebasis for a network-based service platform for providing a range ofdiverse corporate and consumer services.

The invention relates to and significantly improves upon a previouslyfiled patent application claiming Finnish priority of 23^(rd) May 2000entitled Programmable Communicator published as international patentapplication WO 01/91428 A2.

In this previously filed application, is taught the invention of animproved wireless telecommunications platform for remote monitoringpurposes which can be programmed remotely by a mobile phone or any typeof Personal Data Assistant, either at close range using Blue Tooth, orinfra red light, or via a mobile telecommunications network connection.

The current invention builds upon the teaching of this earlierapplication and extends the concept significantly such that it has moregeneral and suitable application for remote asset management and controlof the asset by making use of a programmable wireless module, which islinked to an asset interface module associated with the asset via aprogrammable port module.

Today, the mobile telecommunications industry is making a transitiontowards high bandwidth high capacity 3^(rd) Generation wirelessnetworks. The associated costs of the 3^(rd) Generation wireless networkinfrastructure and the lack of market drivers are challenging the growthof the mobile industry. Clearly, a diverse range of mobile services isrequired which can offer a high growth of subscription contracts andwhich can also run efficiently and effectively on today's 2^(nd)Generation telecommunications infrastructure. The system and methodaccording to the present invention is directed towards this requirementarea.

Generally, few interactive systems are available which make the mostefficient use of the limited bandwidth of the 2^(nd) Generationtelecommunications infrastructure. In particular, the remote monitoringof assets and facilities is not optimised to make use of the mobiletelecommunications network infrastructure in the most efficient andcost-effective way. Today, a diverse range of electronic tags isavailable for determining the location of vehicles and such like, whileother systems are available for providing operational status data ofremote devices. In the case of facilities security, private individualseither choose to invest in improved door and window locks or pay highsubscription rates for outsourced security.

In the context of mobile telecommunications there exists a need for amore efficient solution in the area of remote asset management. Toimprove upon prior art systems it would be beneficial if each assetwould comprise the capability to enable a remote server to determine theoperational status of the said asset and change its operational statusaccording to preset conditions, thereby affording the provision of arange of diverse services for a wide range of asset managementapplications.

In the area of remote facilities management, it would be beneficial iffire and intruder alarm systems were fully integrated and couldcommunicate automatically via a remote system server to alert theappropriate emergency services. Moreover, in places where there islimited fixed telecommunications infrastructure, such a system wouldbenefit from a wireless capability.

In the area of laptop computers, which contain valuable or strategicdata, it would be beneficial if a remote asset management solutionexisted which could determine the location of the computer, and orchange the operational condition of the computer and its related powersupply and or render the computer unusable from a remote location bymaking use of data messages transmitted to the computer from a remoteserver. Such a solution would both help to locate the computer remotelyand prevent unauthorised access of stored data. Also, and in general,such a solution would enable a company to trace the whereabouts of itscomputer workstation inventory automatically by sending requests foreach to return its current GPS coordinate.

In the same area of application, laptop users sometimes experiencedifficulty in accessing their computer when it is locked down due to anaccess password being forgotten, or when the process of changing thepassword is interrupted after the old password expires. Such a situationcan be quite stressful if a professional user is travelling on behalf ofher employer and must make a laptop presentation to a client. Today,this access denial situation is usually remedied by contacting thecompany help desk, authenticating oneself, and requesting the defaulthard drive password. Often, help desk staff are unavailable or theyrequire details to be E-mailed, which is impossible when access isdenied. Furthermore, remote authentication and transfer of complicateddefault drive passwords is very challenging. A system and method, whichmakes possible the remote authentication of the laptop user andsubsequent transfer of the default password to the laptop by sendingdata messages via a remote server, would be very beneficial.

In the area of consumer devices such as video recorders and otherhousehold equipment including heating systems and the like, it would bebeneficial if equipment could be programmed remotely. Such a systemwould enable a consumer to send simple commands via a remote server to asolid-state video recorder to record a favourite program or to switch ona sauna heater or central heating system remotely.

In an additional application area there exists the need for a system andmethod to enable authorised personnel to interact with systems andchange their operational status by use of, for example, a mobile phoneor similar PDA device. Road safety, for example, would be improved if itwere possible for a highway patrol officer to activate and or changehighway traffic speed indicators from his vehicle or from his handheldwireless communicator in the case of a change in driving conditions suchas due to an accident or change in weather.

In an additional application area, there exists the need to monitor theoperational status of an asset for servicing purposes. A vehicle, forexample, would benefit from a system, which could link the vehicle to avehicle-servicing centre to enable remote analysis of the engineperformance and thereby assist vehicle service scheduling. Furthermore,the same system would enable remote management of the engine such thatchanges to the engine operation parameters could be uploaded as well asproviding the means to disable some features of the vehicle to helpprevent theft. Clearly, a remote lock-down feature combined with aposition determination capability would greatly reduce vehicle theft andimprove recovery of a stolen vehicle.

In an associated vehicle application area there exists the need for asystem and method to update the stored data on satellite navigationvehicle guidance systems. Such systems when deployed do not have thefacility for the road data to be updated as road systems change. Asystem and method, which would make possible the updating of the data inan efficient way, would greatly improve the usability of such systems.

In the area of mobile phones and other battery operated equipment, suchas laptops or radio transponder identification tags, it would bebeneficial if the devices could be programmed remotely to power down forcertain periods of time and to power up for certain pre-programmedintervals. Such a programmable power duty cycle would greatly extend thetime between charges of the associated battery supply and when combinedwith an integrated self-positioning Satellite Navigation GlobalPositioning System capability, would enable transponder tracking on aneed-to-know basis. When tagged inventory is in warehouse facilitiesthere is no need to monitor regularly the location of the assets. Shouldthe inventory be mislaid, such a capability would greatly assist inlocating the asset in a way, which makes the most efficient use of theassociated battery supply.

It would be further beneficial if the device had the additionalcapability to report back the battery charge level of the battery supplyto a remote server to indicate when the device would need recharging.The same system would also afford the capability to auto-power up andtransmit other data according to a range of preset alarm conditions.

In a further area of application, consumers would benefit from a system,which gathered data according to the use of a particular asset andforwarded this data to a remote server for the purpose of optimising theasset and for designing an appropriate range of services to support thesaid use of the asset. For example, any communication device whichcomprised a range of options such as pull down menus for internet ordedicated service access might be improved if the range of options wereprioritised automatically according to the way the user preferred to usethe device or in the order of access of mostly used features.

In a further area of application, consumers would benefit from anautomatic parking meter having a designated identification, which couldreceive messages via a remote server from a vehicle owner's mobile phoneand program the parking meter for a period of time. In such a wayparking meters could be charged against the mobile phone owner'ssubscription and the vehicle owner would not need to leave the vehicleand put money into the meter.

In a further area of application, consumers would benefit from a system,which would enable utility meters such as gas, water and electricitymeters to be read remotely. If a device were integrated with the readoutof the meter such that usage data could be communicated wirelessly, sucha system would save the time and effort involved in reading the metermanually.

In an additional application area, in an instance where a security guardis alerted and wishes to secure a monitored area, it would be beneficialif a mobile phone message could be received by a remote server and causedata instructions to be communicated to one or more wireless controlmodules which might lock doors remotely or disable the functionality ofcertain devices.

In an additional application area, hikers and mountaineers or skiers indifficulty would benefit from a smart clothes user-programmablecommunications tag which comprised the means to attach itself to theirclothing, which is pre-programmed to be linked with a fixed or mobiletelephone and need only have its protruding button pressed to makecommunication with a central alarm point. Moreover, in an instance wherean individual is lost or injured and less able to communicateeffectively, a system solution is needed which automatically translatesa GPS positional coordinate into a meaningful text message or voicemessage giving clear details of who the person is and where the personis calling from.

In the application areas outlined above, such as for attaching awireless communications module to an article of clothing, or to a deviceto be monitored, an improved rugged design is required which bothprotects the cellphone engine and battery and which looks stylish. Forexample, in the application area of youth security, children are oftenreluctant to wear the device unless its shape and form has a positiveassociation with an icon of fashion or an extreme sport such asmountaineering. The shape and form of the wireless module is designed toaddress this image aspect directly.

In an additional application area such as for freight tracking and assetlocation, an improved design for an electronic tag is required which isfully integrated with the packaging material surrounding the asset. Inthe particular application of passenger luggage, suitcases andbriefcases should comprise the means to enable remote asset tracking andlocation determination as well as remote control of access to theluggage wherein the means is fully integrated with the structure andlocking means of the luggage.

In a further area of application, consumers would benefit from a system,which would improve the security involved with cash withdrawal from abank Automatic Teller Machine using a bankcard. An auxiliary system andmethod, which enabled a specific ATM to permit a bank customer to usetheir bankcard to access and withdraw funds for a predetermined timeinterval, would reduce crime. If the system required such a messagebefore cash could be withdrawn, stealing ATM bank cards would be lessattractive.

Today, the mobile telecommunications infrastructure is designed andutilised almost entirely as a wireless communications channel for voicecommunication and for sending data messages wherein the mobile phone isconsidered as an end point of the communication. The system and methodfor remote asset management of the current invention significantlyextends the capability of the wireless infrastructure through themanagement of wireless modules associated with remotely located assetssuch that the said wireless modules are no longer communication endpoints within themselves but serve as functional gateways forcontrolling associated assets. Correspondingly, the system and methodaccording to the current invention provides a versatile means forbuilding and operating a diverse and comprehensive set of consumer andbusiness services.

Further to these limitations of existing technologies, and so far as isknown, no wireless asset management system and method is presentlyavailable which is directed towards the specific needs of this problemarea as outlined.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide animproved remote asset management system, which comprises the means tocommunicate data from a fixed or mobile communications device eitherdirectly or via a remote server to one of a plurality of wirelessmodules, each associated with at least one remotely located asset to bemanaged, such that the communicated data enables the operationalcharacteristics of the said asset to be monitored and or modifiedaccording to pre-programmed conditions.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises a dedicated networkserver or Internet-based server, which is programmed with theoperational details of a plurality of assets to be managed remotely andwhich manages the communication messages sent to and received from thewireless modules each associated with at least one of said assets.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises a plurality of wirelessmodules such that each wireless module is interfaced with an operationalfeature of an asset to be monitored such as the software operatingsystem of the said asset such that data messages sent to the wirelessmodule may thereby effect some change in the use or performance of saidasset.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises a plurality of wirelessmodules such that each wireless module is interfaced with an operationalfeature of an asset to be monitored such as the electronic control meansof the said asset such that data messages sent to the wireless modulemay thereby effect some mechanical change in the use or performance ofsaid asset.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises a plurality of wirelessmodules such that each wireless module is interfaced with an operationalfeature of an asset to be monitored such that the said module maycomprise or be interfaced with an electromechanical servo means whichmay be controlled directly through data messages sent to the wirelessmodule and thereby effect some mechanical change in the use orperformance of said asset.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises a plurality of wirelessmodules such that each wireless module is interfaced with an operationalfeature of an asset to be monitored such that the said module maycomprise or be interfaced with a stepper motor means which may becontrolled directly through data messages sent to the wireless moduleand thereby effect some mechanical change in the use or performance ofsaid asset.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises a plurality of wirelessmodules such that each wireless module is interfaced with an operationalfeature of an asset to be monitored such that the said module maycomprise, or may be interfaced with a thermocouple means which may passvoltage values to the wireless module corresponding to temperaturesmeasured by said thermocouple.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system having direct application to the remotereading of gas, water and electricity utility meters, which comprises aplurality of wireless modules wherein each module is associated with atleast one utility meter such that each wireless module may comprise, ormay be interfaced with an inductive coil reading system to enableencoded output utility meters and pulse output utility meters to be readremotely by the utility service company.

Alternatively the module may be directly interfaced with the flow meteritself such that where a changing jet of water flow causes anelectromotive force to be generated in a flow device such that thisforce disrupts a powerful magnetic field which is passively monitored bya number of electrodes which send a signal to a processing circuit, therate of flow generated by the frequency of oscillation is totalised andsent directly to the wireless module as a totalised flow measurementeither periodically or in response to receiving a request from thewireless module.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system having direct application to remoteenvironmental sensing systems, which comprises a plurality of wirelessmodules wherein each module comprises or is associated with the means tosense one or more of the following environmental data types such asacidity level, alkalinity level, concentration of dissolved oxygen,carbon monoxide level, contaminant concentration, level ofradioactivity, ultrasound level, humidity level, air pressure level,levels of rivers, and wind speed, and wherein each module may furthercomprise a solar cell to recharge its own power supply.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises a remote server which isdesigned to receive and process incoming data messages from one or morefixed or mobile communications devices wherein said messages relate tospecific remote asset management applications or personal securityapplications such that the said server is programmed to communicatespecific application data and or voicemail messages to one or morewireless modules and or fixed or mobile subscriber numbers and or IPaddresses or Email addresses in response to receiving each of said datamessages.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises a remote server that ispre-programmed to receive and process subscriber number information andGPS coordinate information such that it may cause a data message and ora voicemail message to be sent to a specific fixed or mobile subscribernumber and or IP address or Email address in response to the receipt ofsaid GPS coordinate information.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises a remote server that ispre-programmed to receive and process subscriber number information andor IP address identification and GPS coordinate information from each ofa plurality of wireless modules wherein following processing of thereceived data from a specific wireless module, the server may determinethat a data message is to be sent to the specific module which causes achange in the operational status of the wireless module and orassociated asset.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises a remote server that ispre-programmed to store operational data for one or more types of assetincluding one or more data types such as asset type, asset model number,asset operating system type, asset power supply type, back-up batterysupply, power supply duty cycle parameters, critical parameters fordisabling specific functionality of the asset, location data of theasset as a function of time and stored at specified intervals for aspecified duration, asset performance monitoring parameters, servicehistory of the asset, location history of the asset, performanceoptimisation parameters, and security lock-down features. The saidserver may also receive data periodically, and or it may request dataaccording to predetermined conditions, and or it may be sent data by thewireless module in response to a change in status of the associatedasset such as an alarm condition or in response to a statusinterrogation request sent to the wireless module from any fixed ormobile device.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which makes possible the creation of adiverse range of new mobile services which can offer a high growth ofsubscription contracts and which can run efficiently and effectively onexisting telecommunications infrastructure without requiring any changesto the said infrastructure.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which is capable of determining thelocation of vehicles as well as offering the means to monitor and orchange the operational status of one or more systems operating on thevehicle.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises a plurality of wirelessmodules wherein each may comprise a GPS module and wherein each iscapable of periodically determining a GPS position fix and storing thisdata according to a programmable period such that a remote server canrequest one or more of the stored data and the times when the data werestored.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system for vehicle service applications, whichis capable of remotely monitoring the performance of the vehicle engineand transmitting performance enhancement data to the vehicle to modifythe performance of the engine.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system for vehicle service applications, whichcomprises the capability for remote fault diagnosis and vehicle servicescheduling such that in response to remote analysis of engineperformance data, the vehicle service centre may communicate directlywith the vehicle display panel and communicate when the vehicle shouldnext come for servicing.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system for the application of satellitenavigation vehicle guidance systems, wherein the system and methodprovides the means to complement vehicle GPS systems by making possiblethe receipt and storage of up-to-date route data by the said vehiclesystem. Over time, the stored GPS data becomes outdated as changes aremade to the road network. The remote asset management system accordingto the invention can organise and transmit navigational map data tocomplement and or modify the GPS data stored in the vehicle system. Suchupdates may be made using encoded messages, such as SMS, and transmittedover the mobile phone infrastructure to the wireless module associatedwith the in-vehicle navigation system when the network is leastcongested such as during the night.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system for facilities management, whichcomprises the means to communicate data to a remotely located serverautomatically, and or periodically, and or in response to a change inenvironmental conditions monitored by a dedicated sensor meansassociated with the asset such as change in temperature and or themovement of air and or a change in sound level and or a change in themonitored chemical composition of the environment and or change in lightintensity and or change in humidity.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system for facilities management, which affordsthe capability for a new and improved wireless fire alarm.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system for facilities management, whichcomprises the means for remotely monitoring and controlling thefunctionality of an air conditioning system.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system for facilities management, whichcomprises the means for remotely controlling the power to a mainspowered device such that data messages received by the wireless modulemay cause the mains power to the said device be switched on or off.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system for facilities management, whichcomprises the means for remotely monitoring access to a building orenclosed area and communicating the presence and or movement of anypersons within the monitored facilities to a remotely located servereither independently or in response to status monitoring requests.Furthermore, according to changes in the data values generated by thesaid facilities management system, the server may consequently generateone or more alarm conditions and communicate data messages to securitypersonnel and or security control centres and or systems controllingdoors and barriers which allow access to the said facilities.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system for facilities management, whichcomprises the means for remotely monitoring the status and or changes inthe positions of doors and windows and communicating said changes to aremotely located server either independently or in response to statusmonitoring requests.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises the means to communicatewith a wireless module associated with a computer for the purpose ofremotely monitoring the use of the computer and or for sending data tothe computer for the purpose of changing the performance of thecomputer.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises the means to communicateremotely with a laptop computer wherein said computer comprises awireless module comprising a GPS chipset such that the said module maybe remotely interrogated to determine its current geographical locationand or one or more previously stored geographical coordinates.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises the means to communicateremotely with a wireless module associated with a computer, eitherindependently and or periodically, or in direct response to a change instatus of one or more operational parameters of the said computer suchthat the wireless module further comprises the means to renderinoperable certain or all functionality of the said computer therebypreventing access to any stored data.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises the means to communicateremotely with a wireless module associated with a fixed or portablecomputer such that a default access password can be transferred to thesaid computer, either directly or via a remote server, to enable anauthorised and authenticated user to gain access to the data on thecomputer when the user has forgotten the access password or when thepassword does not work.

Furthermore, the transfer of a first access password to the saidwireless module may activate a software module which both establishes asecure communication channel between the laptop and the company helpdeskserver and provides sufficient access to the computer to enable the userto authenticate herself by returning confidential identification data tothe authentication server at the company premises such that the servermay authenticate the user and authorise complete access to the computerby sending a second access password to the wireless module.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises the means to communicateremotely with a wireless module associated with a computer, eitherindependently and or periodically, or in direct response to a change instatus of one or more operational parameters of the said computer suchthat the wireless module further comprises the means integrated with themotherboard of the computer to enable remote access to the criticalcontrol parameters of the computer's operating system such as forexample to enable the BIOS parameters to be changed remotely.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises the means to communicateremotely with a wireless module associated with a computer, such thatthe communication channel between a remote server and the said wirelessmodule is encoded using a pair of keys wherein each is generated fromdata stored at either end of the communication link.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which comprises the means to communicateremotely with a wireless module wherein said module comprises arechargeable power supply and or an associated solar cell for rechargingthe power and or it may comprise an additional NICAD cell or equivalentbattery of limited power, such that the rechargeable power supplycomprises a timing means and a control means to enable remote managementof the power duty cycle of the said module. In particular, the wirelessmodule may receive data messages, which instruct the module to powerdown to a very low level, thereby conserving power, such that the powerlevel is sufficient to maintain timing and control functionality whichenable the module to power up at predetermined intervals to enableexchange of data with the remote server.

In this way the interval between recharging is greatly extended and thewireless modules only power up according to a predetermined duty cycle.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedsystem and method for remote asset management, which is suitable for anytype of wireless device in general, such as a mobile phone, wherein eachsaid device comprises a rechargeable battery and a duty cycle powermanagement capability such that the wireless device can be remotelyprogrammed via a server or via a computer connected to the Internet ordirectly from another wireless terminal or directly programmed manuallyto cause the said device to power down for predetermined intervals andthereby extend the interval between battery recharging. All manner ofremote programming methods may be employed such as SMS, GPRS, data calland GSM EDGE as well as WLAN, TCP IP, Infra Red light and Blue Toothradio communication. In particular, each wireless device may beprogrammed to power down automatically when communication is notsuitable such as during regular sleeping hours and to power up whenpersons are available for communication such as during working hours, inbetween lectures and or during lunch intervals.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which is suitable for the remoteprogramming of consumer devices such as solid state video recorders andother household equipment including heating systems and the like whereinthe remote server may monitor the scheduling of preferred televisionbroadcasts according to stored user preferences and forward messages ofupcoming programmes to the user and organise the programming of a homevideo recorder in response to receiving messages back from the user.Similarly other household equipment such as a sauna heater or heatingsystem may be controlled remotely.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which is suitable to enable authorisedpersonnel to interact with systems and change their operational statusby use of, for example, a mobile phone or similar PDA device such as forthe activation or change of highway traffic speed indicators, whereinthe wireless module receives data from authorised personnel or systemsto change the display of the speed indicator to suit changing drivingconditions due to an accident or change in weather.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which is suitable for radio transponderidentification tags wherein the tags are programmed remotely to powerdown for certain periods of time and to power up for certainpre-programmed intervals. The programmable power duty cycle extends thetime between charges of the associated battery supply and when combinedwith an integrated self-positioning Satellite Navigation GlobalPositioning System capability, makes possible transponder tracking on aneed-to-know basis. The transponder tag also has the capability toreport back the battery charge level of the battery supply to a remoteserver to indicate when the device would need recharging. The samesystem also affords the capability to auto-power up and transmit otherdata according to a range of preset alarm conditions as determined bysensors associated with the wireless module.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which has application to freighttracking and asset location and personal luggage security wherein thewireless module is fully integrated with the packaging materialsurrounding the asset and or the structure of the said luggage and orthe associated locking means of a suitcase or briefcase or the like.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system, which gathers data according to the useof a particular asset and forwards this data to a remote server for thepurpose of optimising the asset and for designing an appropriate rangeof services to support the said use of the asset wherein the wirelessmodule may comprise a display having a range of options such as pulldown menus for internet or dedicated service access and wherein thesemight be improved if the range of options were prioritised automaticallyaccording to the way the user preferred to use the device or in theorder of access of mostly used features.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system having direct application to automaticparking meters having a designated identification, wherein each parkingmeter comprises a wireless module according to the present inventionsuch that it is able to receive messages via a remote server from avehicle owner's mobile phone and program the parking meter to indicatepaid parking for a specified period of time.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedremote asset management system having direct application to hikers andmountaineers or skiers in difficulty wherein each such person has asmart clothes user-programmable communications tag which comprises themeans to attach itself to their clothing, which is pre-programmed to belinked with a fixed or mobile telephone wherein it comprises a singlecall button for communication with a central alarm point and has thecapability to establish voice communication and or transfer datamessages comprising a current GPS coordinate and or a voicemail messageto a destination subscriber number of a fixed or mobile phone or to anIP address.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent fromthe description to follow when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Certain of the foregoing and related objects are readily attainedaccording to the present invention by the provision of a novel remoteasset management system and method, which serves to address the diverserequirements of industrial asset and consumer asset management and forthe purposes of remote performance control and for the generation ofalarm messages when the operational ranges of one or more operationalparameters of the associated one or more assets exceed predeterminedthresholds.

The remote asset management system preferably comprises a wirelessmodule wherein each is associated with at least one remotely locatedasset and wherein each module comprises a telecommunications means toenable it to communicate using any wireless telecommunications networksuch as GSM, GPRS, CDMA, WCDMA, CDMA2000, WLAN, Blue Tooth and othertechnologies such as Infra Red and Home RF and the like.

Where appropriate, in alternative embodiments, the wireless module mayadditionally comprise a GPS means to enable remote tracking of themodule. The wireless module further comprises a port module throughwhich the device is able to communicate with an associated asset. Inaddition, the wireless module comprises a memory means to support a dataprocessing application to communicate with the associated asset throughthe port module. The module either draws its power from an associatedpower source such as a solar cell or the power supply of the associatedasset, or it comprises its own rechargeable battery and programmablepower duty cycle.

The wireless module, either directly from another wireless device orfrom a remote system server, receives messages via thetelecommunications network infrastructure for the purposes ofinterrogating the status of the wireless module and or the status of oneor more of the associated assets. Messages are authenticated accordingto access rights and each may comprise data to be sent through the portmodule to change the operational parameters of the associated asset.

The remote asset management system and method has direct and effectiveapplication to diverse asset management scenarios from warehouseinventory management to remote programming applications such as forprogramming a solid state video recorder remotely. Moveable assets suchas vehicles, bicycles and freight, as well as laptops, are convenientlyand effectively tracked through associating a wireless module with eachasset and providing a network-based system server service-platform,which is linked to the telecommunications network infrastructure andwhich has the means to store and run a number of remote asset managementsoftware applications to provide diverse asset tracking and remotecontrol solutions. Additionally, the remote asset management solutionhas direct and efficacious application for the remote reading of gas andwater utility meters.

The associated network-based service-platform is programmed withdedicated software application modules, each capable of managing one ormore separate remote asset tracking applications. Messages can be sentto and from the service-platform between the wireless modules accordingto the current invention and or between other wireless devices such asmobile phones and wireless PDA devices.

Each server-based software application module is tailored to map a setof asset operational parameters to ranges of acceptable operation andthe application module is further capable of generating alarm messageswhen data received from a particular asset indicates that it isoperating outside acceptable operating ranges.

The service platform has the capability to generate data messages to besent to the wireless module associated with a particular asset for thepurposes of causing some desired change in the said asset.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description considered in connection withthe accompanying drawings, which disclose one embodiment of theinvention. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings aredesigned for the purpose of illustration only and that the particulardescription of the chosen application of the remote asset managementsystem and method is given by way of example only and does not limit thescope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schema showing the layout of the wireless moduleaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schema showing an example of a number of theapplications controlled by the wireless modules according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schema showing the remote asset management systemaccording to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a schema showing a flow diagram of how a message maybe sent and systematically processed by the wireless module according tothe system and method of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now in detail to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1thereof, therein illustrated is a wireless module, which forms part ofthe remote asset management system according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

The following description makes reference to the detailed features andapplications as outlined in the objects of the invention.

In FIG. 1 is shown a wireless module (10), which comprises atelecommunications chipset (20) and antenna (30), a GPS chipset (40) andantenna (50), a data processing means (60), a memory module (70), arechargeable battery (80), and a port module (90). Thetelecommunications chipset (20) also comprises a ringing tone generator.A microphone and loudspeaker may be incorporated into the wirelessmodule or a microphone and audio headset may be connected to a dedicatedport in the port module (90). A light emitting display means (100) suchas one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs), which indicate the statusof the wireless module such as its current mode of operation. Differentsequences of LEDs and different coloured LEDs may be programmed toindicate that the wireless module is functioning correctly, or isreceiving data, or is retrieving data from an associated asset, to whichit is connected or integrated via the port module (90).

The data processing means (60) comprises a micro-controller and asoftware module, which is programmed with a data processing assetmanagement application to manage the asset through the port module (90).The data processing application processes SMS messages received by thetelecommunications chipset (20) via the antenna (30) and authenticatesthe incoming message against stored subscriber data in the memory module(70). Authenticated messages are further analysed for data and or forasset management instructions.

The data processing means (60) provides the capability to transform thewireless module (10) from being an end point of data or voicecommunication into being a programmable gateway, which is able tocommunicate with a range of external devices or functional elementsconnected via the port module (90).

FIG. 1 also shows an asset interface module (110), which is associatedwith an asset (120) that the wireless module is managing and which makespossible direct communication between the operational control system ofthe asset and or data collection system of the asset (130) and thewireless module (10).

The data processing means (60) sends data and instructions to the portmodule (90) for communication to the asset interface module (110). Theport module (90) comprises a number of analogue and digital ports (92),a power supply port (94), a fixed line telecommunications port (96), aserial interface (97), a USB connection (98) and a laptop connectionport (99). A Telecoms microphone and audio headset may be connected tothe port module via a dedicated connection (95).

The analogue and digital ports (92) comprise voltage input and outputlines, which can receive data from and send data to the asset interfacemodule (110) for communicating with the asset. The power supply port(94) can receive power directly from the asset itself via the assetinterface module (110) or via a separate mains power supply (82) or aseparate power supply (84) such as a solar cell. The fixed linetelecommunications port (96) is used to connect the wireless module to alocal area network (86) or directly with the Internet (88) and it maycomprise a firewall capability to prevent unauthorised access.Additional serial and USB interfaces are provided to connect differentdevices for different applications.

The wireless module may draw its power from one of a number of powersources (80, 82, 84, 110). To conserve power, the wireless module (10)further comprises a programmable power supply duty cycle module (200).The module (200) can be programmed to separately control the powersupply to the telecommunications chipset (20) and GPS chipset (40). TheGPS chipset (40) uses large amounts of power to process GPS coordinatesand the telecommunications chipset (20) uses large amounts of power tomaintain communication with the telecommunications network. It istherefore advantageous to provide the means (200) to power down eitherthe GPS chipset (40) or the telecommunications chipset (20) or bothwhenever either of these elements of the module is not needed forposition determination or for wireless communication respectively. Theprogrammable power supply duty cycle module (200) is associated with atiming circuit and it (200) comprises the means to maintain the wirelessmodule at a low power.

In this way the wireless module can receive and authenticate incomingmessages when in an active mode which can cause the wireless module topower down for a predetermined interval into an idle mode state. Duringthe said interval, it is not possible for the device (10) to send orreceive wireless communications via the antenna (30) and chipset (20).During the said interval, it is not possible for the device (10) toprocess GPS data and determine its geographical coordinates.

For location determination applications, the device (10) has thecapability to be programmed to store GPS data periodically according toa certain period. The data is stored in the memory module (70) for thepurpose of creating a tracking log of the movement of the device. Evenwhen there is no satellite visibility, it is often possible tocommunicate via mobile phone. In such an instance, the device can berequested to send the tracking log to another wireless device or to asystem server at a remote location.

The tracking log comprises a number of GPS coordinate data and the timewhen each data was stored. In this way the track of previously storedGPS position fixes may be used to predict the current location of thedevice.

The programmable power supply duty cycle module (200) is able toselectively control the power supply to all parts of the wireless moduleaccording to the pre-programmed duty cycle and also according to datareceived from the port module (90). The associated asset may generate analarm condition and request that data be sent immediately to the remotesystem server or to some other remote device such as a wireless deviceor a remote device connected via the Internet. If the module is in idlemode when the alarm message is received, the data processing means (60)can communicate with the power supply duty cycle module (200) and causethe device to power up the telecommunications chipset so that an alarmmessage can be sent across the mobile telecommunications network to aremote wireless device. If the remote device is connected to theInternet via Internet connection port (96), then the wireless module maysend an alarm message to a destination IP address without powering upthe telecommunications chipset (20).

The wireless module is intended to comprise different variants whereineach variant is optimised to match the asset management requirements ofeach associated asset. A remote system server service platform is usedto process a range of responses sent by the wireless module.

In a first embodiment, the service platform communicates using SMSmessages wherein each comprises a string of up to 160 characters. Itwill be apparent that the server platform may also and alternativelycomprise another wireless module, which is able to serve as a masterwireless module to supervise the asset management operations of one ormore slave wireless modules.

The data processing means (60) provides the capability to transform thewireless module (10) from being an end point of data or voicecommunication into being a programmable gateway, which is able tocommunicate with a range of external devices or functional elementsconnected via the port module.

FIG. 2 illustrates the different applications controlled by the wirelessmodule in the particular example where the mobile telecommunicationsnetwork operates according to the GSM standard. It will be clear tothose skilled in the art, which changes must be made to the wirelessdevice and to the messaging protocols in order for the system and methodof the current invention to operate according to othertelecommunications systems and standards such as for example GSM GPRS,CDMA 2000 and WCDMA.

In more detail, FIG. 2 illustrates the use of the asset managementsystem according to the current invention. Each wireless module (10)comprises the capability to communicate via the mobiletelecommunications infrastructure (400). A mobile phone ormessage-enabled wireless terminal (170) can communicate with a specificwireless module (10) or with a system server service platform (150) viaa point of inter-connection (160) with the mobile telecommunicationsinfrastructure (400).

For asset management applications, which comprise a small number ofwireless modules (10), it is possible to manage these using a laptop PC(140).

The wireless module (10) is capable of controlling many system operationvariables of the associated asset such as an asset operating system, anelectronic control system, an electromechanical servo, a stepper motor,an electricity mains switch, a thermocouple and a means to access orupdate data (310).

The wireless module has the capability to be integrated with a utilitiesmeter such as a water flow meter (300) wherein water usage data can beremotely accessed from the wireless module integrated with the utilitymeter and forwarded to the water board.

In the example of GSM, FIG. 2 illustrates that communications can besent to the wireless module, either directly from any compatiblewireless device having SMS capability or via a message-processingsystem-server service-platform. For each specific asset managementsoftware application, a separate asset management service is operated bythe service-platform. All parameters defining and controlling theoperational characteristics of each managed asset are stored andcontrolled by a specified asset management software application. Inaddition, ranges of acceptable operating conditions are also stored andcontrolled by the said software application such that alarm conditionsare established when any operating conditions move outside any of thecorresponding acceptable ranges of operation.

The remotely located system-server service-platform receives datarelating to any specific remotely located asset either directly from thewireless module in response to a status request interrogation messagesent to the wireless module associated with the said asset orperiodically and automatically according to a predetermined andpre-programmed data generation period. In addition, the service platformalso receives data describing an alarm condition in the case when theassociated asset moves outside the acceptable range of operatingconditions and generates an alarm to be sent to the wireless module, orthe wireless module itself determines that an alarm conditions exists.Depending upon the complexity of the asset monitoring application,either the wireless module establishes the alarm condition, or theassociated asset informs the module of the alarm condition.

Communications between the associated asset and the wireless module areconsequently periodic, or in response to a received wireless datamessage such as an SMS message, a data call, or a packet data messagesuch as GPRS, or in response to a fixed line data message such as astream of IP packets in the instance where the wireless module may beadditionally connected to the Internet via one of the port moduleinterfaces, or when a functional element generates an alarm condition.

To further understand the actions performed by the data processing means(60) of FIG. 1, in one preferred embodiment, which makes use of SMSmessaging, the data processing application contained within the dataprocessing means (60) comprises the following functional capability.

1. A Reprogrammable Permitted Callers List wherein incoming SMS messagescomprising a security code and a permitted subscriber number and asubscriber preference number enable the module to build up and store alist of permitted numbers in the order of descending preference number.

2. A reprogrammable call reject feature wherein incoming calls must bein ‘own number sending’ mode and are checked against a look-up table andare rejected if they are not stored in the ‘permitted callers’ list.

3. A subscriber ‘reselect if unavailable’ feature wherein if the call isnot established within a default period or if the dialled number isengaged, the module reselects the next number on the ‘permitted callers’list.

4. A wireless data message translation feature wherein incoming SMS ordata call messages are validated as having come from callers on the‘permitted callers’ list and then further processed to verify that thecalling subscriber, also known as the A subscriber, is authorised toaccess each of any specified data that the said SMS message isrequesting access to, or is authorised for directly communicating withone or more of the designated externally-connected asset controlsystems, or is authorised to access the current GPS coordinate data orto any stored data such as the stored GPS data.

5. A non-permitted caller ID store feature wherein calls and messagesoriginating from an A subscriber not on the permitted callers list willbe stored in a ‘non-permitted callers’ list. Furthermore, all calls andmessages from an ‘A subscriber’ with ‘own number sending’ switched offare automatically rejected. To avoid storage of spam advertisingmessages, the content of the rejected message may not be stored.

6. A reprogrammable port module processing function wherein each of theanalogue and digital input lines which connect the wireless module toone or more of the assets via each asset's interface module (110) isable to be addressed by the data processing application such that datamay be read and processed by the application. For each of the externallyconnected assets there exists a programmable sub-application whichdirectly maps the range of data values generated by the asset operatingsystem to a range of status conditions such as ‘normal operation’,‘alarm condition’, ‘change in operation’ and the like.

7. A number of programmable sub-applications wherein eachsub-application comprises a set of data attributes which enables thewireless module to read data from and write data to the asset interfacemodule (110) or to read data from the GPS chipset or from the GPS storeddata. The sub-application further specifies reprogrammable access rightsto one or more of the data attributes associated with the external assetor to the GPS stored data.

8. An alarm condition in the programmable sub-application wherein foreach of the sub-applications, there exists a programmable alarm feature,which generates a message if the data values generated by the associatedassets are outside operating conditions. For each alarm condition thereexists an associated ‘B-Subscriber’ to which the message is directed, oran associated E-mail address as well as a pre-programmed alarm message.User-definable alarm messages and status messages are stored in aspecific memory block and map to specific data ranges read from the portmodule. For different alarm conditions there exists a link to the‘reselect if unavailable’ feature.

9. A data-access-feature in the programmable sub-application wherein foreach sub-application, there exists a data-access-feature, which enablesa permitted ‘A subscriber’ to access real time and or stored data forone or more sub-applications.

10. A stored data profile feature wherein for particular applications,such as those monitoring a range of data values changing with time, thewireless module comprises sufficient memory for the particularapplication to enable it to store a user-definable set of data values.The set of data values may be accessed by a permitted ‘A subscriber’ andsent by SMS if less than 160 characters or by data call if the data setis large. The incoming ‘A-subscriber’ message indicates the number ofstored data values requested, and or the range of time during which thedata values were stored, as well as the preferred data reply format.

11. Application monitoring feature wherein the data processingapplication (DPA) generates a real time set of data values indicatingthe status of all external assets controlled by the DPA such that alaptop PC or the like can be connected directly to one interface of thewireless module so that its functionality and real-time operation can bevisualised.

Note that it is well within the functionality of the wireless device tobe programmed to dial up a dedicated connection in the case that a datacall must be made or to establish a voice connection. Furthermore, voicerecognition software may be stored in the wireless device and used tocontrol certain functionality of the asset management process. Adedicated voice link may be made to a remote server to enable a personat a remote location to speak into the voice channel, which issubsequently received and processed by the voice recognition software inthe wireless module and linked to a specific asset management task suchthat voice commands may cause remote asset management tasks to occur.

When the wireless module (10) is receiving messages or generatingalarms, the wireless module provides a real-time visualisation of itsoperation. A series of LED diodes of different colours and or ofdifferent illumination sequences, enable a user to verify that themodule is functioning correctly without needing to connect a PC to thePC interface in the port module. The LED diodes show simplefunctionality conditions such as:

-   -   1. Call-reject wherein a red diode is illuminated for 1 second;    -   2. A-Subscriber recognised and message accepted wherein a green        diode is illuminated for 1 second.

The following conditions may have different LED responses:

-   -   3. Data-Access permitted;    -   4. Data Access not permitted for recognised A-Subscriber;    -   5. Reprogramming of linked subscriber number;    -   6. Self-Check of unit;    -   7. Access Confirmation to programmed external functional        elements;    -   8. Alarm condition;    -   9. GPS coordinate generated;    -   10. GPS coordinate read from last stored entry due to no GPS        position fix currently available;    -   11. Module within base station coverage;    -   12. Module outside base station coverage.

In an alternative embodiment the wireless device may comprise a fibreoptic display such that the LED display may be replaced or complementedwith one or more rings of light emitting fibre to generate rings oflight of different diameters and patterns and colours to differentiatethe above list of functionality conditions. Alternatively, the wirelessdevice may be complemented with coverings of light emitting polymers,which are capable of generating diverse and multicoloured smart-skineffects, wherein the patterns for each may be controlled by the dataprocessing means.

The wireless module comprises the capability for a personal computersuch as a laptop PC to be directly connected to it via a dedicated portfor detailed visualisation of its real-time processing capability andfor reprogramming purposes. Sufficient application security such as anexchange of coding keys between the DPA and the attached laptop existsat the laptop interface to prevent unauthorised access of the data.

For remote, hard-wired access, the data processing application has thecapability to run a virtual private network (VPN) programme end-to-endbetween the wireless module firewall and a remotely located deviceconnected to the Internet.

The laptop PC software will comprise pull-down menus to access thereal-time data available to the data processing application such as datavalues returned by each interface in the port module and stored datavalues based upon a specific data storage period and maintained for aspecific time window for example, the last 60 data values, stored perminute, where new data replaces the first stored entry.

For different applications of the wireless module, the laptop PCconnected via the port module (90) comprises a specific script-basedsoftware to enable a user to program specific cause-effect functionalityinto the said module. In this way a user can build an application on thelaptop PC and upload this to the module.

To assist with the application development and for visualising thereal-time functionality of the wireless module, the laptop PC connectedvia the port module (90) shows a screenshot depicting the processing anddata storage functions being performed by the wireless module.

The following application monitoring details are present on thescreenshot of the wireless module:

-   -   1. A wireless module self check status which includes a list of        the features of the wireless module and the memory size        available to different associated assets for periodic data        storage;    -   2. A port module self-check status, which comprises a list of        the current standard, interfaces in the port module and the        current data values of the voltages on each;    -   3. A stored data values, which comprises a table which can        convert to a simple graphic of stored data values for the        associated assets and a table of the previously determined GPS        coordinates, indicating periodicity and over which time data        values were stored;    -   4. A permitted callers' list, which comprises a reprogrammable        and hierarchical list indicating the B-subscriber number and or        the IP address to which the wireless module will call or send        data messages to. This list also specifies the status of        permitted callers and the access rights to particular associated        assets and to the stored data;    -   5. An access code list, which comprises a list of different        user-definable SMS access codes, which must be included within        each SMS message for access/control of different features of the        module or for access/control of any associated asset;    -   6. An associated asset functional description which describes        the functionality of the attached device;    -   7. A status message list which comprises a list of        user-definable messages which relate to the ranges of parameters        monitored by the DPA of the externally attached associated        asset, which include alarm condition messages as well as current        operational messages and intervals of time that a specified        monitored associated asset has been working within an acceptable        operating range;    -   8. A power supply status, which shows whether the module is        currently being powered by the external device or whether it is        drawing power from its own battery, as well as the power level        of the rechargeable battery.

Other asset features, which are specific to a particular application ofthe wireless module, will also be included in the screenshot.

DESCRIPTION OF A SECOND EMBODIMENT

In a second embodiment of the same invention, particular details of thesystem and method according to the application to vehicle guidancesystems are now described in more detail. As mentioned, the wirelessmodule has the capability to receive and store data for the purpose ofupdating data stored in the memory of an associated asset. In theparticular example of the GPS vehicle guidance system, the in-vehicleGPS system calculates a position fix from the transmissions receivedfrom a number of satellites in the moving constellation of GPSsatellites. This position fix is computed in the form of a geographicalcoordinate and compared with the coordinate-encoded map data in thevehicle guidance system. In order for the system to be useful, the mapdata must be up to date. According to the invention, as new roads becomeopened and knowledge becomes available of planned road works, it isadvantageous that this data is transmitted using the mobile networkinfrastructure in the form of messages sent to the wireless module. Inaddition, statistical information about traffic congestion at specifictimes of the day and during the year can be forwarded to the wirelessmodule associated with the in-vehicle GPS system. Such data may becommunicated using messages, such as the GSM SMS message protocol, orvia GPRS, at times when the network is least congested such as at night.

Real-time updates such as slowing of traffic flow rates, traffic jams,and accidents, and changes in driving conditions due to adverse weatherconditions may also be communicated using the same system and method.Drivers could, for example, request traffic information about theircurrent intended route from a remote server connected to the mobilenetwork infrastructure using the wireless module to request real-timeinformation by sending the coordinate details of the planned route ascalculated by the in-vehicle system. Alternatively, and with particularreference to this application, it is advantageous to describe anauxiliary system and method, which falls within the scope of the currentinvention.

While it is effective and efficient to communicate slowly changing routedata to update the roadmap data in all route-guidance systems, it isless efficient to send real-time data, which describes trafficcongestion events of short duration, to all drivers when such data onlyimpacts drivers who are currently in or near the location of the saidevent at the time it occurs.

It is possible for a remote system server to interrogate the in-vehiclewireless module GPS data and then react by transmitting real-timecongestion data back to those vehicles in the vicinity of each event.However, the auxiliary system and method according to this applicationof the invention is more appropriate.

The infrastructure for communicating traffic news to drivers is wellestablished in many countries. Moreover, it is developed to the extentthat drivers generally receive information, which relates to the areathrough which they are travelling. Many drivers listen to FM publicradio broadcasts from local radio stations while travelling. Moreover,certain of these car radio systems comprise appropriate functionalitysuch that traffic congestion announcements can periodically interruptthese local broadcasts to inform the driver of areas of trafficcongestion or adverse driving conditions due to an accident or badweather. In this way, drivers who are travelling in the vicinity of thesaid congestion events can receive meaningful traffic congestionannouncements.

In addition to these known systems, many Frequency Modulated FM publicradio broadcasts comprise digital information such that simpleadvertising messages appear on the car radio display. This capability isnot presently used as a means to transmit traffic congestioninformation. The auxiliary system and method involves making use of theinterrupting traffic announcement broadcasts and the capability toencode radio broadcasts with data.

The auxiliary system and method according to the invention makes use ofthese traffic announcements in such a way that the public radio stationtraffic announcements are modified to comprise encoded data messagesincorporated into the radio transmission, which describe details of theevent in a way that they can be utilised by a vehicle guidance system.The said encoded data messages are received and decoded by a separate FMdecoding device, which is enabled to receive traffic announcementbroadcasts, wherein said FM device is associated with the wirelessmodule according to the invention, or wherein the wireless modulecomprises such an FM decoding means, or wherein the said encoded datamessages are decoded and output by the car radio itself and sent to thewireless module or directly to the associated in-vehicle navigationsystem, such that real time traffic information can be transmitted tothe in-vehicle navigation system.

In this way, the auxiliary system and method makes it possible for thewireless module according to the invention to update an associatedin-vehicle GPS car navigation system with map data and localisedreal-time data relating to traffic congestion events. The saidnavigation system is thus able to make use of this additionalinformation and guide drivers away from traffic queues due to anaccident or other congestion event. The on-board system could processthe information and if it impacted the planned journey route, the systemcould issue an alarm and request that the driver turn off the currentroad according to the normal practice of using such vehicle guidancesystems.

With particular reference to FIG. 3, the illustration indicates thecommunication paths of the different types of data. A GPS data server(190) supervised by a computer system such as a laptop PC (140) isconnected to the mobile network infrastructure (400). The GPS dataserver (190) has a list of the subscriber numbers of each of thewireless modules (10A) associated with each in-vehicle GPS vehicleguidance system (500). GPS data updates can be sent from the GPS dataserver (190) via the mobile network infrastructure usingtelecommunication messages to the wireless module (10A) associated withthe GPS vehicle guidance system (500).

Real-time traffic data is sent by local FM public radio station trafficbroadcasts. In one embodiment, the wireless module (10A) comprisesadditional functionality of a traffic announcement enabled FM chipset.As mentioned earlier, this functionality may be external to the wirelessmodule or a separate FM car radio may be used to decode the FMbroadcasts.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to apply this system toemergency service vehicle applications wherein each vehicle comprisesthe wireless module according to the invention and wherein real-timeevent data can be communicated via SMS, or to all vehicles over a commonradio broadcast channel. Correspondingly, such an application fallswithin the scope of the current invention.

DESCRIPTION OF FURTHER EMBODIMENTS

It is to be understood that not all interfaces will be present on eachand every module according to the present invention and choices of thedifferent interface types are made according to the particular assettype and the asset interface (110). Furthermore, the specific functionalsplit of the total functionality of the wireless module across theparticular elements is given by way of example only and that differentvariants of the design are possible which integrate different processingcapabilities of the module with to different hardware elements. Forexample, the asset interface (110) itself may further comprise aprocessing means, which is capable of processing data generated by theasset operating system or asset data collection scheme. For example, inthe application of the wireless module to utility meters, thecommunication channel from the asset (120) to the wireless module (10)via the interface (92) may comprise sending data only.

In particular, and in accordance with the scope of the invention, thedata processing means (60) may exist as a single separate module orexist as a number of functional software elements, spread out amongdifferent parts of the module. The wireless module itself may comprise aprogrammable software radio module instead of a specific dedicatedTelecoms chipset.

As described earlier, the wireless module (10), which may incorporate atelecoms chipset according to the GSM standard, may, in one embodiment,make use of SMS messages to effect asset management of an associatedasset. The following description gives an example of an SMS messageformat, which can be used to achieve the objects of the invention. It isto be understood, however, that this is only one example of many whichmay be used, wherein each may be adapted to suit each differentapplication.

The wireless device is designed to process SMS messages according to apredetermined format. The DPA means (60) performs the processing of theincoming SMS message. The format may comprise the following:

-   -   1. A 160 character message comprising a coded identifier such as        an identification code and or including data describing from        which originating device the message was sent such as that sent        by a mobile phone in ‘own number sending’ mode;    -   2. The message further comprises an authorisation code, which        may be different to provide different levels of access to data        stored by the device.        -   a. A first level of access may represent authorisation to            change the default subscriber number that the device            communicates with in the instance of an alarm;        -   b. A second level of access may represent authorisation to            access the GPS data stored by the memory module (70);        -   c. A third level of access may comprise two or more codes            wherein the first represents authorisation to access            different functionality of an associated asset and the            second and additional codes define the specific            functionality which may be accessed and changed.    -   3. The message further comprises a data block which specifies        the particular asset management tasks performed by the wireless        module upon the associated asset such that data is read from or        sent to a specific functional element within the associated        asset via the port module (90) for the purpose of determining        the status of that functional element or for effecting change in        that functional element.

The data processing means is fully programmed with the capability tocommunicate with each and every functional element within the associatedasset. The specific data describing the operating system of theassociated asset and data which relates to the method by which assetdata is accessed and read by the wireless module (10), followingauthentication of the sender of the message and validation of the accessauthorisation, is stored in the memory module and is available to thedata processing means (60).

Consequently, each coded message comprises a predetermined format whichis fully processed by the data processing means (60) with reference tothe stored data in the memory module (70) and, in the case that themessage is authenticated and authorised, the data component of themessage is processed to access data from a specific memory location ofthe wireless module or associated asset and or to effect a specificchange in the said wireless module or associated asset. In this way thedata processing means (60) and the controlled access of informationthrough the port module (90) are key to the system and method of theinvention.

FIG. 4 illustrates 7 steps how an asset control message may beauthenticated and authorised to control some functionality of an assetassociated with the wireless module (10) according to the currentinvention.

With reference to the preceding description, it will be clear to thoseskilled in the art that the level of authentication and or authorisationwill be directly related to the particular asset management application.

In more general terms, the invention provides a solution for switchingoff devices remotely and rendering them inoperable, such as laptopcomputers and thereby preventing unauthorised access of stored data. Inother situations, the operational characteristics of the asset, such asa car engine performance, can be monitored remotely, and provided to avehicle service centre for analysis. Moreover, the same in-vehiclemodule can provide positional information, by way of an integratedSatellite Navigation Global Positioning System chipset, as well asaffording the capability to lock down the vehicle control system whenthe vehicle is stationary.

In other applications such as where a wireless module can be used tocommunicate with a server, or where a system server is connected to themobile telecommunications infrastructure the same server based remoteasset management system can provide consumer services such as the meansto program solid-state digital video broadcasting DVB-T recorders.

In such a service, for example, a consumer can register the make andmodel of their solid-state video broadcasting device and their interestin a certain type of television programme with the network-based server.At any time during the day, the consumer may receive a data message on amobile phone or via E-mail indicating that a potentially interestingprogramme will be broadcast, and the request whether the network basedserver should communicate data instructions to the wireless moduleassociated with the digital video recorder to record the broadcast. Forexample, the consumer need only reply with a simple message and thenetwork-based server can proceed to compile and communicate the complexdata message to the wireless module associated with the said recorder.

In the area of remote facilities management, the remote asset managementsystem provides a solution for an improved fire alarm and home securitynetwork for communicating directly with homeowners or directly with theemergency services in the case that there may be a fire at the locationor when an unauthorised intruder has been detected. Furthermore, thesame wireless local area network can be extended for the remote controlof diverse consumer devices. A wireless telecommunications based firealarm provides the means to achieve intelligent fire surveillance inareas where only radio network coverage is possible such as in remoteareas where no fixed telecommunications infrastructure is present.

In addition to the provision of network-based remote asset monitoringsystems, the invention also provides a telecommunications solution fordetermining the location of sought assets as well as the authenticationof assets, vehicles and persons.

The invention may make use of the existing wireless telecommunicationsinfrastructure such as that operating according to the GSM Telecomsstandard or the WCDMA Telecoms standard as well as the pager network.

The module-server architecture operates seamlessly and transparentlywith the existing wireless networks, thereby making the remote assetmanagement service available wherever there is wireless networkcoverage. Furthermore, the invention may make use of the text messageservice provided by the wireless telecommunications networks such as theShort Message Service in GSM. In this way, asset management commands canbe sent easily and efficiently between each wireless module associatedwith the asset and the network-based server. Moreover, the choice of SMSenables any person who is authorised to communicate with the asset, tocommunicate with the network server and or the asset wireless modulefrom an SMS-enabled mobile phone, an SMS-enabled wireless PDA, or via anSMS-message despatch internet website.

The Short Message Service (SMS), as defined within the GSM digitalmobile telecommunications standard has several unique features:

-   -   A single short message can comprise up to 160 characters of text        in length. These 160 characters may comprise words or numbers or        an alphanumeric combination. Non-text based short messages (for        example, in binary format) are also supported and these may be        used for ring tones and logos services for instance.    -   The Short Message Service is a store and forward service where        short messages are not sent directly from sender to recipient,        but are always sent via an SMS Centre instead. Each mobile        telephone network, which supports SMS, comprises one or more        messaging centres to handle and manage the short messages.    -   The Short Message Service features confirmation of message        delivery. Unlike paging, users do not send a short message and        trust and hope that it gets delivered. Instead, the sender of        the short message may receive a return message back notifying        them whether the short message has been delivered or not.    -   Short messages may be sent and received simultaneously with GSM        voice, Data and Fax calls. This is possible because whereas        voice, Data and Fax calls occupy a dedicated radio channel for        the duration of the call, short messages are transmitted using        the signalling channel. As such, users of SMS rarely, if ever,        get a busy or engaged signal as they can do during peak network        usage times.    -   Ways of sending multiple short messages are available. SMS        concatenation (stringing several short messages together) and        SMS compression (getting more than 160 characters of information        within a single short message) have been defined and        incorporated into the GSM SMS standards.        To use the Short Message Service, subscribers require the        relevant subscriptions and hardware, specifically:    -   A subscription to a mobile telephone network, which supports        SMS;    -   The use of SMS must be enabled for that user (automatic access        to the SMS service is given by some mobile network operators,        others charge a monthly subscription and require a specific        opt-in to use the service);    -   A mobile phone, which supports SMS;    -   The knowledge of how to send or read a short message using each        subscriber's specific model of mobile phone;    -   A destination subscriber number or IP address to where a short        message is sent, or from where a short message is received. This        may be another mobile phone, a fax machine, a PC or via an SMS        emulating website Internet address.        Many different types of mobile networks support the use of SMS.

Since its inclusion into the GSM standard, SMS has also beenincorporated into many other mobile phone network standards, includingthe Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)in North America and Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) in Japan. Each ofthese standards implements SMS in slightly different ways and messagelengths do vary. The availability and characteristics of SMS ondifferent mobile network standards is now quite widespread.

SMS is fully available on GSM 900 MHz, GSM 1800 MHz, and GSM 1900 MHz,for message lengths up to 160 characters. SMS is also available on theanalogue NAMPS system of North America, and the CDMA system of NorthAmerica but with an increased message length of 256. US TDMA and D-AMPSof North America also have SMS. In Japan, both the Personal HandyphoneSystem (PHS) and the Personal Digital Cellular standard PDC have SMScapability.

The system and method according to the invention may be thus implementedon US TDMA networks (IS-136), CDMA networks (IS-95) and all GSMnetworks. In addition it may be used wherever IDEN or an IntegratedDigital Enhanced Network is in operation, which is a TDMA-based digitalnetwork standard, which supports up to 140 character SMS messages.

In addition to these applications where SMS capability forms part of theexisting voice and data mobile telephone infrastructure according to thepreviously specified standards, the system and method according to theinvention is equally suitable for GPRS packet radio networks and 3^(rd)generation networks. In addition, wireless Application Protocol, or WAPtechnology, may be used to build server-based messaging applications.Pager messaging networks may also be used as the messaging carrierinfrastructure instead. In all cases, persons skilled in the art will befamiliar with the necessary changes, which must be made to the wirelessmodule Telecoms chipset (20) and the software operating on the dataprocessing means (60). Instead of a reprogrammable power supply, awireless module may comprise a NICAD battery to provide sufficient powerto be able to send a message or establish a dedicated voice channel toanother wireless device.

The present invention may be used in a diversity of applications andenvironments. In particular, the application of advances in messagingsuch as EMS (Enhanced Messaging Service) and MMS (Multimedia Messaging)are fully within the scope of this invention. For example, a multimediamessage comprising a graphic image may be generated by an MMS enabledwireless module to transmit stored data in a graphic form. Furthermore,it should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purposeof illustration only and does not include all modifications orimprovements, which may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A remote asset management system comprising a fixed remote operatorcentre comprising a remote system server service platform (150), saidremote asset management system further comprising a network ofprogrammable wireless modules (10) communicating via a standard radiocommunication protocol, each of said programmable wireless modules (10)being linked to one or a plurality of fixed or mobile assets (120) to beremotely managed wherein programs, commands, parameters, and status datapass through said network of programmable wireless modules (10), each ofsaid programmable wireless modules (10) further comprising anidentification module, a telecommunications chipset (20) comprising anantenna (30) to communicate via mobile telecommunications infrastructure(400) said telecommunication chipset (20) further comprising means forcommunicating via a standard wireless telecommunication network beingeither GSM (global system for mobile telecommunication) or GPRS (generalpacket radio service) or CDMA (Code division multiple access) or WCDMA(wide band CDMA) or CDMA2000 or WLAN (wireless LAN) or PDC (PersonalDigital Cellular) or a pager network, or via a satellitetelecommunications system, said programmable wireless modules (10)further comprises means (100) indicating the current mode of operationof said programmable wireless module (10), a data processing means (60)comprising a micro-controller and a software module, a FLASH memory anda memory module (70) and further comprising a power supply beingsupplied externally or via a battery (80), said remote asset managementsystem being characterized in that: said remote system server serviceplatform (150) comprises a dedicated software for remotely programmingsaid network of programmable wireless modules (10) via said standardradio communication protocol and/or via a LAN, with one or a pluralityof same or different remote assets management applications or personalsecurity applications and for causing said programmable wireless modules(10) to pass data to and from one or a plurality of said linked fixed ormobile assets (120) for remotely configuring, testing, monitoring andcontrolling one or more linked fixed or mobile assets within saidnetwork of fixed or mobile assets (120), and said remote system serverservice platform (150) further comprising means for servicing aplurality of subscribers for remotely managing a different set orsubsets of fixed or mobile assets (120) on behalf of each of saidplurality of subscribers, and said remote system server service platform(150) being further linked to one or a plurality of fixed and/or mobilelocal system server service platforms comprising means for servicingpart of said plurality of subscribers for remotely managing one or aplurality of said subsets of fixed or mobile assets (120) on behalf ofsaid remote system server service platform (150) further comprising thefunctionality of one of said programmable wireless modules (10) and acomputer integrating the set of operating, planning and managementfunctions modules.
 2. A remote asset management system according toclaim 1 wherein each of said one or a plurality of local system serverservice platforms further communicating to said remote system serverservice platform (150) via said standard radio communication protocoland/or via a LAN to communicate via either a web page or via E-mail orvia IP packets, and each of said one or a plurality of local systemserver service platforms being a master for managing one or a pluralityof slave programmable wireless modules (10) forming one of said subsetsof fixed or mobile assets (120) each dedicated to the same global taskof remotely monitoring one or a plurality of said same or differentfixed or mobile assets (120) according to one or a plurality of saidapplications.
 3. A remote asset management system wherein said localand/or remote system server service platform (150) comprising means forconfiguring and testing each of said set or subsets of programmablewireless modules (10) and their respective associated same or differentfixed or mobile assets (120) according to claim 1 or 2 wherein; saidlocal and/or remote system server service platform (150) furthercomprising; means for remotely initiating said respective set or subsetsof said programmable wireless modules (10) by sending to saididentification module of each of said programmable wireless modules (10)a unique encrypted code (PUK) to allow said local or remote systemserver service platform (150) to put each of said programmable wirelessmodules (10) in a programming mode, and means for broadcasting a firstlist of one or a plurality of hierarchical privileged access codes toeach set or subsets of said programmable wireless modules (10), saidaccess codes being either whether mobile or fixed telephone numbersand/or PC or IP addresses, of different authorised personnel and/orsubscribers to remotely access said set or subsets of said programmablewireless modules (10) and their linked one or a plurality of same ordifferent assets, and means for broadcasting a second list of one or aplurality of telephone numbers and/or PC or IP addresses of same ordifferent authorised personnel and/or subscribers for said programmablewireless module (10) to be called either on request and/or when paged bysaid pager network and/or periodically and/or in case of emergency fortransmitting status and alert or alarm reports according to said remoteassets management application requirements for; allowing said differentauthorised personnel and/or subscribers to remotely access said one or aplurality of said programmable wireless modules (10) and/or one or aplurality of fixed or mobile assets (120) respective supervision and/ordiagnostic data according to his privilege level, and further comprisingmeans for putting each of said programmable wireless modules (10) in anasset programming mode, and means for broadcasting a third list of thedata type and capabilities of same or different or one or a plurality offixed or mobile assets (120) wherein said data types being asset typeand/or model number and/or OS type and/or power supply and/or batterysupply and/or duty cycle parameters of wake up versus sleep modeduration and/or enabled or disabled asset functionality and/or locationdata and/or service history and/or location history and/or performanceoptimisation and/or security lock-down features and of said parametersinformation wherein said parameters information being aboutcorresponding services, maintenance, operating modes and emergencyprocedures in order to download said parameters information to eachcorresponding one or a plurality of fixed or mobile assets (120) inorder to report back formatted status information regarding each of saidor one or a plurality of fixed or mobile assets (120) to said localand/or remote system server service platform (150) in order toautomatically integrate said reported formatted back status data indirectly workable different dedicated spreadsheet documents and/or webpages for; allowing said set of said programmable wireless modules (10)information data to be presented with all their subsets of saidprogrammable wireless modules (10) for either operational purposesand/or technical diagnostic and/or maintenance planning and/or billingand/or balance sheet and/or schedule of assets and/or ordering goodswherein each of said status reports are sent accordingly to one or aplurality of telephone numbers or PC or IP addresses of said subscriberand/or maintenance team and/or security team and/or to said local and/orremote system server service platform (150), in order to provide eachservice being either technical or administrative or security and/or thesubscriber with the unique data they need and for archiving andprocessing said status data automatically in real time, and means forputting each of said programmable wireless modules (10) in anoperational mode, and means for broadcasting said information datasimultaneously to each of said set or one or a plurality of said subsetsof said fixed or mobile assets (120) each being part of the sameapplication and needing same said first and/or said second and/or saidthird list for forming an operational set or subset of fixed or mobileassets (120) sharing measured data in order to synchronise their actionsto globally achieve said application.
 4. A remote asset managementsystem according to claim 3 wherein said programmable wireless module(10) further comprising; means for receiving encrypted digital data viaGPRS or in the form of data call or of one or a plurality ofconcatenated short messages of the SMS sort or E-mails, said encrypteddigital data comprising said commands and request for said fixed ormobile assets (120) and an encrypted security code, and means forauthenticating said received encrypted security code against authorisedpersonnel or subscriber codes from said stored first list for grantingaccess and/or control of all or a selected number of authorised assetappliances according to said privilege level, and means for transmittingencrypted digital data via GPRS or in the form of data call or of one orconcatenated short messages of the SMS sort or E-mails to prioritisednumbers and/or PC or IP addresses stored in said second list, and meansfor downloading said commands and corresponding parameters representingthe operational features from said third list to one or a plurality ofsaid fixed or mobile assets (120) to which each of said programmablewireless modules (10) is wirelessly linked and/or wired, wherein saidthird list comprising a plurality of application-useful data listswherein said application-useful data lists comprise of out-of-rangeconditions and/or basic troubleshooting solutions and/or alertconditions and/or high priority alarm, and/or means for establishing avoice connection comprising a voice recognition software to recognisevoice commands and a voice code and its associated privilege level andexecute said voice commands associated tasks, and means for broadcastingstored voice messages to a number from said second list allowing onlybi-directional data flows and/or allowing a two-way voice communication,and/or means for positioning (40) said programmable wireless modules(10) comprising an antenna (50) for tracking the location of saidassociated mobile asset (120), and/or a port module (90) connecting saidprogrammable wireless modules (10) to a range of external assets orasset appliances or functional elements by means of one or a pluralityof analogue and digital ports (92), said port module (90) furthercomprising a power supply ports (82, 84), a fixed line telephone port(96), a serial interface (97), a USB connection (95), a computerconnection port (99), a PCMCIA PC card port or a firewire connection, aSCSI port for connecting a hard disk drive (HDD), and a microphone andaudio headset connections (95), and said analogue and digital ports (92)further connecting said programmable wireless modules (10) to a remoteasset interface module (110) communicating with one or a plurality ofsaid fixed or mobile assets (120), via a wired or wireless connection.5. A remote asset management system according to claim 4 wherein saidprogrammable wireless modules (10) further comprising; means fortransmitting and storing requested data and/or periodically receiveddata from said linked one or a plurality of said assets and/or emergencydata of functional status and/or alarm and/or asset hardware anomaly inreal-time for management and security purposes and means fortransmitting said data to one of said local system server serviceplatform and/or to said remote system server service platform (150), andmeans for reporting in real-time said formatted functional status and/orsaid alarm and/or said asset hardware anomaly information requiring anintervention and means for broadcasting said information to one or aplurality of telephone numbers and/or PC or IP addresses from saidsecond list wherein said intervention being either by remotelyreprogramming part or all of said programmable wireless modules (10) orreconfiguring one or a plurality of said fixed or mobile assets (120) ofone or a plurality of said subsets with new parameters and commands,and/or physically sending security officers and/or maintenance and/ormedical personnel to the locations of said one or a plurality of subsetsof fixed or mobile assets (120) and/or to the location of saidprogrammable wireless modules (10) for troubleshooting or doing themaintenance of said asset and/or programmable wireless modules (10) orphysically handling said operating alarm as required, and/or means forreceiving and transmitting extended message service (EMS) and/ormultimedia messaging service (MMS) message types, and/or said programmodule further comprising means for encoding and decoding the ExtendedMark-up Language (XML) and said local and/or remote system serverservice platform (150) further comprising a computer software interfacein the form of object oriented fields or Java applets, and furtherreceiving and transmitting XML or wireless binary XML (WBXML) coded dataand SMS compressed messages, and/or means for saving battery power forautomatically putting said programmable wireless modules (10) in asleeping mode when said programmable wireless module (10) does not needto transmit nor receive nor process data and further comprisingauto-power up means to awake said programmable wireless modules (10) andput it back in an operating mode when a certain programmed date and/ortime or preset alarm condition occur or when said fixed or mobile assets(120) or said local and/or remote system server service platform (150)are communicating to said programmable wireless module (10) to generatea radio (SMS) or network (E-mail) message, and/or means for executing apower on self-test (POST), and means for uploading an acknowledgementstatus to said local or remote system server service platform (150). 6.A remote asset management system according to claim 5 wherein saidprogrammable wireless module (10) further comprising; means forcontrolling the duty cycle of said programmable wireless module (10) forperiodically validating and invalidating during certain time of the dayor week or month or year one or a plurality of said access code of arange of personnel in said first list to automatically control anypublic or personnel access to a protected area or precinct or buildingor floor wherein said public or personnel carrying an ID smart tagcomprising said programmable wireless module (10) wherein said uniquecode being either its own wireless telephone number or a unique ID codeor its PUK number, means for remotely removing or replacing one or aplurality of said personnel and/or subscriber numbers in said personnelsecond list when said personnel is replaced or changes his telephonenumber and/or PC or IP address.
 7. A remote asset management systemaccording to claim 5 or 6 wherein said asset (120) further comprising; aFLASH memory comprising an operating system to allow said asset (120) tooperate in a plurality of modes, and a memory to store received commandsand measured status data to be sent through said programmable wirelessmodules (10), and said asset (120) further comprising a blue tooth or aninfra red or an ultrasonic or sound and/or a wired connection to saidremote asset interface module (110) or being directly embedded with saidprogrammable wireless modules (10) in a same housing to execute saidwirelessly downloaded operational commands and or requests, and one or aplurality of sensors and/or actuators and/or analogue/digital anddigital/analogue converters to implement one of said applications ofmeasuring physical data, wherein said actuators being either anelectromechanical servo means or a stepper motor or a thermocouple or aninductive coil reading system, and means for sending on request or whenbeing paged by said pager network or periodically or when configuredemergency cases occur, functional status, alert conditions, alarmconditions and hardware anomaly information in real-time to saidprogrammable wireless modules (10) to which said asset (120) is linked,and wherein said programmable wireless modules (10) in turn upload saidfunctional status, alarm and hardware anomaly information to one or aplurality of telephone numbers and/or PC or IP addresses in the form ofa message or of an E-mail, wherein said numbers and PC or IP addressesrepresenting the different bodies involved in dealing with said alert oralarm conditions being either said remote and/or local system serverservice platforms (150) and/or said security officers and/or one of saidsubscribers and/or said medical teems and/or a specialised team asrequired by one of said applications.
 8. A remote asset managementsystem according to claim 7 wherein said application is for monitoringmobile person or a group of people or for personnel location andsurveillance or supervision in closed and open areas wherein said closedareas being controlled compounds or airports or hospitals or buildings,or prisons or swimming pools or indoor sports resorts or leisure resortsor shopping centres and said open areas being either outdoor sportsresorts or leisure resorts or ski resorts or theme parks or beachresorts or national parks or protected areas being either military orcivil, and wherein said mobile personnel being personnel or crew orpolicemen officers or firemen or security officers or medical officersand said supervised persons or group of people being children or elderlypeople or ill or disabled people or employees and wherein one or aplurality of said master programmable wireless modules (10) each beingembedded in either a mobile telephone or a PDA comprising a micro harddisk being carried by a mobile team commanding personnel officers beingeither rescue or medical or security or authorised officers representingsaid intervening bodies, and each of said supervised person or group ofpeople or personnel carrying each a slave programmable wireless module(10) embedded within a mobile phone or as a smart tag further comprisinga unique button to take in and send a voice call allowing said people tobe reassured in case they are lost or in danger and said smart tagfurther comprising said positioning module (40) (GPS) and means forautomatically sending coordinates in text message via an SMS message orvia GPRS, and means for automatically paging each of a plurality of saidslave programmable wireless modules (10) to respond with its unique IDcode, and status data either including its precise location (GPS) orsaid remote managing system being able to calculate said coordinateswithin said closed or open area and/or medical status data when saidprogrammable wireless modules (10) is carried by a medically superviseddisabled person wherein said sensors are dedicated medical sensorscontrolling the health state of said disabled person and providing saidwireless module (10) with medical status data, and said local systemserver service platform being located within said open or closed areaand further comprising means for checking said ID code against a localsystem server service platform authorised first list and a databasestored in said hard disks of medical records and/or rights anobligations records of said supervised people regarding saidapplication, further comprising means to determine whether saidsupervised person or personnel is in need of an intervention frommedical or rescue or for said personnel to face an unforeseen situationor for a specific member of personnel to execute an order, anddynamically updating said remote assets (120) and sending all necessaryinformation to be put in said first and second and third lists to allowdifferent intervening teams each comprising a master and a plurality ofslave programmable wireless modules (10) to synchronise their efforts toachieve their missions according to said application.
 9. A remote assetmanagement system according to claim 8 wherein said application is formonitoring unauthorised mobile persons or a group of people or forpersonnel location and surveillance or supervision in closed and openareas wherein said people or group of people carrying no programmablewireless module and/or said personnel entering said open or closed areaillegally using said smart tag when not authorised, wherein said localsystem server service platform comprising a database of knownunauthorised personnel not on duty and a data base of undesired peopleor of people having a criminal record received by said local systemservice platform from the national police department, means to send toauthorised security officers located at predetermined checking pointssaid status data to allow said local system server service platform toallow said authorised security officers to determine if an unauthorisedpersonnel is illegally inside said area and said local system serverservice platform further transmitting a digital message to each of thesecurity officers of the team in place in the vicinity of saidunauthorised personnel with his photograph and personal data and itslocation within said area by means of one or a plurality of MMS and/orSMS messages in order for said security officers to locate saidunauthorised personnel visually and take the necessary action, and saidlocal system server service platform comprising means for controlling inreal time a plurality of said smart tags for further allowing said localsystem server administrator to manage the presence, time, and the exactlocation of each of said supervised person or personnel within said areain real-time, and said local system server service platform comprisingmeans for receiving from the police representative a list and statusdata of criminal records of people to be either prohibited to penetratesaid compound or to be more carefully checked or supervised or arrestedby police personnel carrying said programmable wireless module (10)embedded in either a cellular telephone or a PDA comprising a micro harddisk, to which an SMS and/or MMS message should be sent to let them knowthe person's appearance and where said person is to be encounteredwithin said area, said smart tags carried by personnel furthercomprising a LCD screen to which messages can be read and allowing saidlocal system server service platform to further send messages to saidarea security officer and to said personnel to assess their statusauthorised or not authorised, and/or said local system server serviceplatform being further linked to a remote system server service platform(150) to synchronise their authorised personnel database and suspiciouspeople database and share said databases with different local systemserver service platforms located at different supervised open or closedareas nation wide and/or world wide.
 10. A remote asset managementsystem according to claim 7 wherein said application is for managing anetwork of vending machines wherein said actuators lock said vendingmachine when specific conditions are met wherein said specificconditions being for prohibiting access to said vending machine when notdesired, and said sensors gather measured data wherein said measureddata being the number of times the door is open and/or how many of eachgood has being bought in a programmable period of time and/or the amountof cash there is in said machine, and said sensors further gatheringsaid machine diagnostic status and/or failure and/or temperaturevariation and/or unauthorised movement or of goods being taken, whereinsaid measured data are each sent by said programmable wireless module(10) to the corresponding service personnel for an appropriate operationlocated at said local fixed or mobile in a vehicle en route or remotesystem server service platform (150), said operation being launchedafter collecting and analysing said measured data, wherein saidoperation being remote warranty diagnostic, and route planning allowingretailers to take the optimum route for carrying the exact quantity ofeach product in order to refill said network of vending machines, andstock planning and cash monitoring allowing said local or remote systemserver service platform (150) to optimise the product mix available foreach of said vending machine, and also knowing the exact cash amount tobe collected for each of said vending machine, and said operationfurther being service and part requirements, for allowing said vendingmachine maintenance service to send local engineers of the service andpart requirements knowing the exact parts to be repaired or replaced,and said vending machine further comprising one of said sensors todetect unauthorised movement of said vending machine to send an alarm tothe security service for a quick intervention.
 11. A remote assetmanagement system according to claim 7 wherein said application is forutility metering of private or public precincts wherein said utilitymetering being water and/or gas and/or electric and/or flow and/or fluidlevel metering wherein each of said programmable wireless modules (10)is linked to one or a plurality of same utilities wherein each of saidprogrammable wireless module (10) passes status data on request or whenpaged by said pager network or periodically in the form of an SMSmessage or via GPRS to the respective utility company each associatedwith a local or remote system server service platform (150), for billingand statistic and maintenance purposes, and said data in the XML orWBXML and/or in said application adapted format to allow respectiveutility companies to send said information to their clients either byInternet or by mail.
 12. A remote asset management system according toclaim 7 wherein said application is for vehicle telematics whereinindependent vehicles subscribing individually to a service from avehicle telematics and security service provider or as a fleet ofvehicles wherein said vehicles being taxis or corporate cars, or bussesor trains or aircraft or boats or bicycles wherein each of said vehiclesbeing further equipped with said programmable wireless module (10) andsaid mobile asset (110) comprising an onboard computer comprising ascreen, said telematics application being remote diagnostics and/or livenavigation assistance and/or weather conditions and/or information ofinterest services and/or real time traffic information and alternativeroute advises to avoid traffic congestion and/or voice recorder and/orvehicle tracking and/or storing received telephone numbers callingand/or E-mail messages, wherein said information and status data aredisplayed in the proper format wherein said location information areembedded in a digital map and others information are as well displayedto give the driver or pilot a clear view of the actual situation andwhereabouts, and/or said vehicle further comprising an anti theft systemembedded in the electronic component of the motor of said vehiclecontrolling the motor ignition and door opening and automaticallysending an SMS to said local and/or remote system server serviceplatform (150) and/or to the police and/or security department wheresaid vehicle is to report said theft and the precise coordinates usingsaid GSM module or said locating module of said vehicle, and saidprogrammable wireless module (10) periodically sending or on request orwhen paged by said pager network useful diagnostic data to the remotemaintenance computer located in said local or remote system serverservice platform (150) in charge of said vehicle to allow parts orderingfor replacement before breaking and said computer remotely updatingoperating parameters of said vehicle and automatically requesting amaintenance appointment and giving the address and path to thespecialised garage in the case of a terrestrial vehicle or signalling tothe maintenance team to take charge of said vehicle and exactly knowingwhat repair or maintenance to do when out of the normal maintenanceschedule, and/or said remote maintenance computer adapting thefunctioning parameters according to said received diagnostic statuses inorder to allow an optimum modified vehicle operating capability forreasons of performance and security.
 13. A remote asset managementsystem according to claim 7 wherein said application is for use in afacility management system wherein said facility being hospitals orpharmaceutical or biological or medical research laboratories and/orclean rooms of semiconductors manufacturers or building automationsystems of private or public building or home automation, wherein saidassets being facility appliances for burglar alarms and/or goodsrefrigeration devices and/or room temperature regulation devices and/orfor electronic key control and/or automatic door opening devices and/orpanic hardware devices and/or fire and/or smoke detection devices and/orfalse alarm protection devices and/or for a filtering system for airintake systems and/or a security camera or video camera and/or elevatorsand/or fan system control devices and/or heating system and/orsolid-state video recorder and/or sauna heater, wherein said sensorsbeing for air velocity and flow and/or temperature and/or air pollutionand/or humidity and/or C02 and/or combustible gas and/or gas flamemeasurement and/or movement or pressure for intruder detection and/orutility metering, each of said appliances being further linked to one ofsaid programmable wireless modules (10) either in the same housing orvia a blue tooth radio link or via direct connection through said remoteasset interface module (110) for reporting respectively measured data torespective local and/or remote system server service platform (150)wherein said local or remote system server service platform (150) beinglocated in said facility perimeter and comprising a computer forresponding adequately to one of said and by passing updated parameterseither pre-programmed or received from said required services to allowsaid facility to operate safely, wherein said facility management systemfurther comprising means for remotely controlling said facilitymanagement system by a supervisor and/or one of said subscribers whereinsaid means being a PDA comprising a micro hard disk or a Laptopcomputer, embedded with one of said programmable wireless modules (10)wherein said controlling means comprising means for receiving statusdata and/or a photograph of an intruder in the form of one or more MMSmessages.
 14. A remote asset management system according to claim 7wherein said application is for environmental sensing system or forsupervising local and/or global environmental conditions wherein saidenvironmental conditions are weather control and forecast or greenhouseeffect measurement or earthquake warning/prediction or volcanosupervision or sea temperature and sea current supervision and waveheight and displacement speed and oil spillage propagation or atmospheresupervision or tornado formation or river contamination and floodprediction, wherein said programmable wireless module (10) being mountedwith said sensors in a carrier adapted to the environment, and saidsensors being air and/or sea pressure sensors and/or tectonic sensorsand/or temperature sensors and/or air speed sensors and/or water flowsensors and/or specific chemical substance sensors and/or highatmosphere probes and said measured data being acidity level and/oralkalinity level and/or concentration of dissolved oxygen and/or carbonmonoxide level and/or contaminant concentration and/or level ofradioactivity and/or ultrasound level and/or carbon dioxideconcentration or atmospheric temperature or surface sea water and/ordeep sea water temperature and/or air pressure and/or humidity leveland/or pollution or contamination level and/or levels of rivers and/orwind speed, and said remote system server service platform (150)collecting said data for allowing short term and long term weatherforecast and storm and other dramatic weather situations or tsunami orearthquake early warning and/or pollution or contamination levelassessment of supervised sea and atmosphere and supervised river andlake and earth zone.
 15. A remote asset management system according toclaim 7 wherein said application is for freight or object-trackingand/or marshalling yard of said freight or object in supervised areaswherein said freight or objects containers comprising a programmablewireless module (10) embedded in a housing with said positioning module(40) being either a GPS module or a beacon system or a pageable moduleto be able to locate said programmable wireless module (10) wherein saidareas being airport or bus station or train station or sea or lake orriver port or railway network or road network or open sea and each ofsaid objects, being luggage or packages or parcels and said containersall located in boat or aircraft or train or truck or bus or packetdelivery vans or vehicles, wherein each of said object comprising asmart tag, wherein said smart tag being further capable of sendingstatus data of said freight or objects in a wagon and/or in a containerand/or in a trailer when said wagon and/or in a container and/or in atrailer comprising more than one tagged object, either through saidwagon and/or in a container and/or trailer programmable wireless module(10) by means of a short distance radio transmitter or blue tooth, ordirectly by means of an embedded personal programmable wireless module(10) when said freight or object deserves a special care.
 16. A methodfor managing a remote asset management system comprising a fixed remoteoperator centre comprising a remote system server service platform(150), said remote asset management system further comprising a networkof programmable wireless modules (10) communicating via a standard radiocommunication protocol, each of said programmable wireless modules (10)being linked to one or a plurality of fixed or mobile assets (120) to beremotely managed wherein programs, commands, parameters, and status datapass through said network of programmable wireless modules (10), each ofsaid programmable wireless modules (10) further comprising anidentification module, a telecommunications chipset (20) comprising anantenna (30) to communicate via a mobile telecommunicationsinfrastructure (400) said telecommunication chipset (20) furthercomprising means for communicating via a standard wirelesstelecommunication network being either GSM (global system for mobiletelecommunication) or GPRS (general packet radio service) or CDMA (Codedivision multiple access) or WCDMA (wide band CDMA) or CDMA2000 or WLAN(wireless LAN) or PDC (Personal Digital Cellular), or a pager network orvia a satellite telecommunications system, said programmable wirelessmodules (10) may further comprise means (100) indicating the currentmode of operation of said programmable wireless module (10), a dataprocessing means (60) comprising a micro-controller and a softwaremodule, a FLASH memory and a memory module (70) and further comprising apower supply being supplied externally or via a battery (80), saidmethod of managing said remote asset management system beingcharacterized by the steps of: remotely programming by a remote systemserver service administrator said network of programmable wirelessmodules (10) at said remote system server service platform (150) viasaid standard radio communication protocol and/or via a LAN, with one ora plurality of same or different remote assets management applicationsor personal security applications, causing said programmable wirelessmodules (10) to pass the data to and from one or a plurality of saidlinked fixed or mobile assets (120) for configuring, testing, monitoringand controlling said network of fixed or mobile assets (120), andservicing by said remote system server service administrator a pluralityof subscribers by remotely managing a different set or subsets of fixedor mobile assets (120) on behalf of each of said plurality ofsubscribers, said remote system server service platform (150) beingfurther linked to one or a plurality of fixed and/or mobile local systemserver service platform, servicing by a local system server serviceadministrator at said local system server service platform part of saidplurality of subscribers for remotely managing one or a plurality ofsaid subsets of fixed or mobile assets (120) on behalf of said remotesystem server service platform (150) further comprising one of saidprogrammable wireless module (10) and a computer integrating operating,planning and management functions modules, each of said one or aplurality of local system server service platforms further communicatingto said remote system server service platform (150) via said standardradio communication protocol and/or via a LAN or a web page or byE-mail.
 17. A method for managing a remote asset management systemaccording to claim 16 wherein each of said one or a plurality of localsystem server service platforms being a master for managing one or aplurality of slave programmable wireless modules (10) forming one ofsaid subsets of fixed or mobile assets (120) each dedicated to the sameglobal task of remotely monitoring one or a plurality of said same ordifferent assets (120) according to one of said applications whereinsaid subsets of fixed or mobile assets (120) sharing measured data inorder to synchronise their actions to globally achieve said application.18. A method for managing a remote asset management system according toclaim 17 wherein said step of remotely programming said network ofprogrammable wireless modules (10) further comprising the steps of;remotely initiating by said local or remote system server serviceadministrator said respective set or subsets of said programmablewireless modules (10) by sending to said identification module of eachof said programmable wireless modules (10) a unique encrypted code(PUK), and testing said respective set or subsets of said programmablewireless modules (10) and responding to said local or remote systemserver service administrator by an acknowledgement signal, and furtherputting each of said programmable wireless modules (10) in a programmingmode, broadcasting a first list of one or a plurality of hierarchicalprivileged access codes to each set or subsets of said programmablewireless modules (10), said access codes being either mobile or fixedtelephone numbers and/or PC or IP addresses, of different authorisedpersonnel and/or subscribers to remotely access said set or subsets ofsaid programmable wireless modules (10) and their linked one or aplurality of same or different fixed or mobile assets (120), andbroadcasting a second list of one or a plurality of telephone numbersand/or PC or IP addresses of same or different authorised personneland/or subscribers for said programmable wireless module (10) to becalled either on request and/or when paged by said pager network and/orperiodically according to a programmed period and/or in case ofemergency for transmitting formatted status and alarm reports accordingto said remote assets management application requirements, and furtherputting each of said programmable wireless modules (10) in an assetinitiating mode, and broadcasting a third list of the data type andcapabilities of same or different one or a plurality of fixed or mobileassets (120) wherein said data types being asset type and/or modelnumber and/or OS type and/or power supply and/or battery supply and/orduty cycle parameters of wake up versus sleep mode duration and/orenabled or disabled asset functionality and/or location data and/orservice history and/or location history and/or performance optimisationand/or security lock-down features and of said commands and saidparameters information wherein said parameters information being aboutcorresponding services, maintenance, operating modes and emergencyprocedures, and testing each of said fixed or mobile assets (120) eachresponding by an acknowledgement signal to said programmable wirelessmodules (10) to which each of said fixed or mobile assets (120) islinked which report it to said local or remote system server serviceadministrator, wherein said received and transmitted encrypted digitaldata are in the form of a data call or by GPRS or of one or concatenatedshort messages of the SMS sort or E-mails, and further putting each ofsaid programmable wireless modules (10) in one of a plurality ofoperating modes, wherein In-between active operating modes saidprogrammable wireless modules puts itself in a sleeping mode and awakesby a predetermined request from an administrator or periodicallyaccording to a programmed period or by a predetermined condition oralert or alarm condition from one of said fixed or mobile assets (120).19. A method for managing a remote asset management system according toclaim 18 wherein said step of programming each of said set or subsets offixed or mobile assets (120) further comprising the steps of; said fixedor mobile local or remote system server service platform (150) sendingencrypted digital data in the form of a data call or via GPRS or in theform of one or a plurality of concatenated short messages of the SMSsort or E-mails to said respective set or subsets of programmablewireless modules (10), receiving by said programmable wireless module(10) said encrypted digital data comprising commands and requests forsaid fixed or mobile assets (120) and an encrypted security code,authenticating said received encrypted security code against authorisedpersonnel or subscriber codes from said stored first list for grantingaccess and/or control of all or a selected number of authorised assetappliances according to said privilege level, and downloading saidcommands and corresponding parameters from said third list and saidrequest to one or a plurality of said fixed or mobile assets (120) towhich each of said programmable wireless modules (10) is wirelesslylinked and/or wired, wherein said commands indicate a period toautomatically transmit data and the actual fixed or mobile assets (120)configuration and the actual operating mode in order to implement saidmanagement application or personal security application requirements,and further putting each of said one or a plurality of fixed or mobileassets (120) in one of a plurality of operating modes, and furtherproviding each service being technical or administrative or security ormedical or to the subscribers with the unique status data they need andfor archiving and processing said status data automatically in real timeat one of said local or remote system server service platform (150). 20.A method for managing a remote asset management system according toclaim 19 comprising the steps of; periodically or when requested by alocal or remote network administrator, polling said respective set orsubsets of fixed or mobile assets (120) by said programmable wirelessmodule (10) to which one or a plurality of said fixed or mobile assets(120) are attached for sending said status data and/or alarm conditionhistory according to a request from said fixed or mobile local or remotesystem server service platform (150) wherein said status datainformation are formatted in XML to be directly workable into adedicated spreadsheet documents and/or web pages (GPRS) for eithertechnical diagnosis and/or maintenance planning and/or billing and/orbalance sheet and/or schedule of assets and/or ordering goods and saidfixed or mobile assets (120) further sending to said programmablewireless module (10) to which they are linked either by means of a bluetooth or an infra red or an ultrasonic or sound or a wired connection,hardware status data through an analogue and/or a digital port (92)further connecting said programmable wireless module (10) to a remoteasset interface module (110) communicating with one or a plurality ofsaid fixed or mobile assets (120), via a wired or wireless connectionfor maintenance purposes, operational status data for administrativepurpose, and alarms indicating an out of range condition in said actualoperating mode, automatically receiving by said programmable wirelessmodule (10) said fixed or mobile assets (120), said requested or saidperiodically sent status data and/or alarm condition from said fixed ormobile assets (120) according to said command indicating the period forsending data or according to a command to define said alarm condition,said programmable wireless module (10) further encrypting said digitaldata for appropriately sending said data via said standard radiocommunication protocol and/or via a LAN either via a web page or E-mail,storing in a storage device and/or transmitting said encrypted digitaldata in the form of a data call or via GPRS or in the form of one or aplurality of concatenated short messages of the SMS sort or E-mail orweb page (GPRS) to prioritised numbers and/or PC or IP addresses storedin said second list, to report formatted functional status data in realtime either to said fixed and/or mobile local system server serviceplatform for maintenance purposes and online following up of acontrolled process, or to said remote system server service platform(150) for technical supervision and management purposes, and reportingsaid alarm with priority when said alarm occurs or any fixed or mobileasset (120) hardware anomaly information requiring an intervention inreal time to one or more numbers and/or PC or IP addresses from saidsecond list and/or to said fixed or mobile local or remote system serverservice platform (150) in order to allow respective maintenance officerand/or security officer and/or administrator and/or subscribers tointervene appropriately.
 21. A method for managing a remote assetmanagement system according to claim 20 comprising the steps of;positioning said programmable wireless modules (10) further comprisingmeans for positioning (40) and an antenna (50) for tracking the locationof said associated mobile assets (120) located in a mobile objectwherein said application consisting in real time fleet supervision andmanagement, wherein said mobile objects being busses or trucks or taxisor ambulances or trans or aircraft's or police vehicles, reporting saidlocation of said mobile object to a system server service platform (150)administrator wherein said location is indicated on a map on hiscomputer screen and further stored in a hard disk for further treatment,and/or reporting said location of said mobile object to an onboardcomputer wherein a programmable wireless module (10) is embedded,located in said mobile object for guidance purposes wherein said messagebeing in the form of a MMS integrating said location on a map in thescreen of said onboard computer.
 22. A method for managing a remoteasset management system according to claim 20 or 21 comprising the stepsof; establishing a voice connection by an authorised caller with saidprogrammable wireless module (10) embedded in one of said mobile asset(120), receiving voice messages comprising a voice command and a voicecode and recognising said voice commands and said voice code by means ofa voice recognition software wherein said voice recognition softwarecarrying out a voice recognition conversion either at said local orremote system server service platform (150) or at said mobile asset(120), authenticating said received encrypted security code within saidvoice message against authorised codes from said stored first list forgranting access and/or control of authorised asset appliances accordingto said privilege level, wherein said asset appliances are cellulartelephone or PDA or rugged clothes tag or a medical appliance, executingsaid voice command associated task comprising reading status and/ortransmitting new operating data mode to said appliance, reporting backstatus data to in the form of data call or of one or concatenated shortmessages of the SMS sort or E-mail or web page to prioritised numbersand/or PC or IP addresses stored in said second list upon the bearerbeing either health data or/and location wherein said status data beingsupervision and/or diagnostic data and/or allowing the bearer of saidmobile asset (120) to vocally communicate with said caller for disabledor old people surveillance or sport persons surveillance in remoteplaces or personnel surveillance purposes either said caller being partof a medical surveillance team or of a security surveillance team or ofa rescue team and/or allowing only a two way voice data flow.
 23. Aremote asset management system comprising a fixed remote operator centrecomprising a remote system server service platform (150), said remoteasset management system further comprising a network of programmablewireless modules (10) communicating via a radio communication network,each of said programmable wireless modules (10) being linked to atleast, one asset (120) to be remotely managed wherein programs,commands, parameters, and status data pass through said network ofprogrammable wireless modules (10), each of said programmable wirelessmodules (10) further comprising an identification module, atelecommunications chipset (20) comprising an antenna (30) tocommunicate via a mobile telecommunications infrastructure (400) saidtelecommunication chipset (20) further comprising means forcommunicating via a wireless telecommunication network, saidprogrammable wireless modules (10) further comprises means (100)indicating the current mode of operation of said programmable wirelessmodule (10), a data processing means (60) comprising a micro-controllerand a software module, a FLASH memory and a memory module (70) andfurther comprising a power supply being supplied externally or via abattery (80), said remote asset management system being characterized inthat: said remote system server service platform (150) comprises adedicated software for remotely programming said network of programmablewireless modules (10) via said radio communication network, with atleast one remote asset management applications or personal securityapplications and for causing said programmable wireless modules (10) topass data between at least one linked asset (120) for remotelyconfiguring, testing, monitoring and controlling one or more linkedfixed or mobile assets within said network of fixed or mobile assets(120), and said remote system server service platform (150) furthercomprising means for servicing a plurality of subscribers for remotelymanaging a different set of assets (120) on behalf of each of saidplurality of subscribers, and said remote system server service platform(150) being further linked to at least one local system server serviceplatforms comprising means for servicing part of said plurality ofsubscribers for remotely managing at least one of said sets of assets(120) on behalf of said remote system server service platform (150)further comprising the functionality of one of said programmablewireless modules (10) and a computer integrating the set of operating,planning and management functions modules.
 24. A method for managing aremote asset management system comprising a fixed remote operator centrecomprising a remote system server service platform (150), said remoteasset management system further comprising a network of programmablewireless modules (10) communicating via a radio communication network,each of said programmable wireless modules (10) being linked to at leastone assets (120) to be remotely managed wherein programs, commands,parameters, and status data pass through said network of programmablewireless modules (10), each of said programmable wireless modules (10)further comprising an identification module, a telecommunicationschipset (20) comprising an antenna (30) to communicate via a mobiletelecommunications infrastructure (400) said telecommunication chipset(20) further comprising means for communicating via a wirelesstelecommunication network, said programmable wireless modules (10) mayfurther comprise means (100) indicating the current mode of operation ofsaid programmable wireless module (10), a data processing means (60)comprising a microcontroller and a software module, a FLASH memory and amemory module (70) and further comprising a power supply being suppliedexternally or via a battery (80), said method of managing said remoteasset management system being characterized by the steps of: remotelyprogramming by a remote system server service administrator said networkof programmable wireless modules (10) at said remote system serverservice platform (150) via said radio communication network, with atleast one remote asset management applications or personal securityapplications, causing said programmable wireless modules (10) to passthe data between at least one of said linked assets (120) forconfiguring, testing, monitoring and controlling said network of assets(120), and servicing by said remote system server service administratora plurality of subscribers by remotely managing a different set ofassets (120) on behalf of each of said plurality of subscribers, saidremote system server service platform (150) being further linked to atleast one of local system server service platform, servicing by a localsystem server service administrator at said local system server serviceplatform part of said plurality of subscribers for remotely managing atleast one of said sets of assets (120) on behalf of said remote systemserver service platform (150) further comprising one of saidprogrammable wireless module (10) and a computer integrating operating,planning and management functions modules, each of said at least onelocal system server service platforms further communicating to saidremote system server service platform (150) via said radio communicationnetwork.